The series type ferroresonant regulator is an economical power supply that provides good voltage regulation at its output over a wide range of variation of its input voltage. Its simplicity of design permits its use in a wide range of applications including many power supplies packaged for a plug in connection into an AC wall outlet terminal.
At present, however, utilization of the series type ferroresonant regulator for direct plug in applications is limited to low power applications of approximately 10 watts or less. At high power applications, the series type ferroresonant regulator is inefficient and generates significant amounts of heat which raise its operating temperature significantly above ambient. A further unique phenomenon of the series type ferroresonant regulator is a tendency to generate large amounts of heat while idling at no load. These power dissipation characteristics have limited the series type ferroresonant regulator to low power applications and have prevented its application to higher power applications despite its many attractive features of small physical size and simplicity of design. It would be advantageous if the series type ferroresonant design could be adapted to accommodate higher power applications without destroying its advantage of small size and design simplicity.